Fallen Down
by IWriteToHideThePain
Summary: Shuichi was watering his garden when the human girl fell from the sky.
1. home

A/N: Just a heads up this is a Undertale au/crossover/rip-off whatever you want to call it. I just want to clarify that none of the characters from Undertale show up in this. The only thing I took from Undertale is the setting and bits and pieces of the plot. In other words, this isn't a meme or a joke, I'm 100% serious. Here's my extremely self indulgent undertale/danganronpa mash-up fic. Enjoy!

* * *

Shuichi was watering his garden when the human girl fell from the sky.

It happened so suddenly, he wasn't sure if it had happened at all. His attention had been absorbed in his own daily chore, mindlessly watering a bed of golden flowers, when a body plummeted hard onto the ground. He couldn't even see what had happened at first, petals had scurried into the air, twirling and weaving in his vision. But, when they settled, Shuichi could clearly see that a girl was laying in the dirt, petals tangled in her pink clothing and blond hair, her eyes shut tight.

My flowers are dead. That's what Shuichi thinks at first, until his stalling mind catches up to the scene before him. He stands, frozen. He curls his fingers, but finds nothing but emptiness between them. He rips his gaze away from the petal-adorned girl to look down at his feet. His watering can is on the ground, lying on its side, water pooling around his shoe. He bends down to pick it up but, finds its completely empty. It would be impossible to water his flowers, now.

So he scuttles away, his hand clutching at the handle as he makes it to a nearby pond. Once there, he submerges the watering can to refill it, letting the cool water lap at his arms. Behind him, the frogs croak their familiar tunes and ones in front of him leap from lilypad to lilypad. With a few calming breaths, everything is back to normal.

Except, when he returns, there's still an unconscious girl in his garden. He hadn't imagined her. Nor did he dream her up. A girl is in his garden. A human girl.

The watering can slips from his fingers again and it hits the ground with a resounding clank. The girl stirs in her sleep.

Panic surges through Shuichi, he quickly flees to a safe distance but, he makes sure to still keep her in sight. "Um, excuse me?" he calls out.

Nothing. Her body remains still. He reaches out to her, wondering where the otherworldly creature had came from. He had never met a human before, it was impossible for them to come to the underground. And yet, one of them lay in his garden.

Then, her eyes open. She mumbles something incohesive and rolls her head to look around. "H-huh?" Her body shoots up fast. Too fast. She squeezes her eyes shut and slowly lies back down. "Where am I?" she groans out as her head makes contact with the ground.

Shuichi blinks. "Oh, um, this is the Ruins."

She turns to him, as if only now realizing he was there. Her violet eyes look directly into his own, stretching wide with awe. He lowers his cap. "The Ruins?" She echoes.

He nods.

She tries to sit up again and, with a pained effort, she manages to do it. "I-" the girl looks down at her body, "How did I...get here?"

Shuichi points up towards the endless cavern tunnel, stretched up for miles above them.

Her head tilts upwards. "All the way up there?" she breathes and then goes silent for a long time before, "I did fall, didn't I? Yeah, I remember that."

"You remember what? Falling?" he asks.

"Uh huh," she rests her head on her palm, "And that's all l remember."

"What do you mean?"

"I, uh, oh gosh, this is going to sound really crazy," she takes a moment before continuing, "My head feels...foggy? My memories don't really make sense. I was at home, then I was falling, and now I'm here. I can't recall what happened in between."

Shuichi's curiosity starts to trump his common sense and survival instincts, he inches closer to the human. "H-hey, that doesn't sound too crazy," he tries to comfort.

She snorts. "Come on, don't lie. I know it does."

"I'm not lying," he mumbles, getting even closer. Stepping on his own flowers to do so, until he's right beside her. "Maybe you hit your head too hard. You probably need some rest right now. I'm sure your memories will come back once you've recovered from the fall."

"Maybe," she replies, sounding as confident in that idea as Shuichi felt. Which was not at all.

Then she stands up and wobbles unsteadily on her feet. She dives to hook onto Shuichi's shoulder for balance. Their eyes meet for a second and he quickly turns away. She doesn't. In fact, she lets her eyes wander across his whole body. Then, she starts poking around his face. Not quite touching it, just prodding the air around him. He instantly regrets getting close to her.

"I-I guess you could come to my house. I have a plenty of spare rooms you could use," he offers, silently begging for her to stop.

"That be nice actually. Thank you," she says, sounding distracted. She stops the air poking but, continues staring at him, her eyes squinted. "Hey, um, this is probably another symptom from hitting my head, but you have, like, this blue glow around you."

Then it clicks in Shuichi's brain. Of course a human wouldn't recognize monster traits.

"Oh, you're not seeing things, it's actually there" he explains, "because I'm a ghost."

He can't tell if the blank expression on her face means that she doesn't believe him or doesn't know what a ghost is. Either way, he figures words won't get him very far. So, he takes a step back and bends one leg up. Then, the other. And, instead of crashing to the ground, he remains where he was. Floating slightly above the ground, feet tucked under him.

The human girl stares at the space between himself and the ground. She blinks, lets out a soft laugh, then faints.

* * *

By the time she wakes again, Shuichi had managed water the plants. It was difficult working around her and he hopes she doesn't notice the few stray droplets that had landed on her arms. He's still unsure of what does and doesn't upset the human, afterall.

When she regains consciousness, her eyes snap open and she pushes herself up into a sitting position. Her head whips around to face him.

"You're a monster, aren't you?"

Shuichi puts down his empty watering can and nods, "Yes I am, and sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He rubs the back of his neck "Are you feeling better now?"

"I... am, a lot better actually," she says but her voice is strained. "I didn't mean to pass out. I guess I was still lightheaded from the fall." She shakes her head. "But, that's not the point. The point is you're a monster, right? So, how are you here?"

He shrugs. "I walked here, I guess?"

"No, that's not what I meant," she growls, "I meant, ugh, didn't monsters lock themselves behind a barrier a long, long time ago?"

"Um..yes?"

She's silent for a moment. "Where did you say this was again?

"The Ruins."

"The underground Ruins?"

"Um, yes."

The girl closes her eyes and lets out a nervous laugh. "So, you're telling me I'm in the underground realm. The one filled with monsters?"

Shuichi blinks in surprise. "You didn't know?"

"No" she snaps. "I told you, all I know is that I was at home and then I was here." He slinks back so she adds more softly "All my memories are missing."

He perks up. "So, wait, does that mean you don't remember how you got past the barrier?"

She shakes her head. "No, not a clue. I...I literally did the impossible and I can't even remember how it happened. Do you have any idea on how a human could have gotten down here?"

Her gaze bores into him, waiting for an answer, but Shuichi has none to give. "Ah, maybe you...or there could have been a… I, uh".

"It's okay. It's fine." She quickly interjects, "Worrying about it won't solve anything. Besides, my memory will come back eventually… right?

Shuichi looks away as he says, "Yeah, it has to come back at some point."

"Exactly. I just got to remain calm." She takes a heavy breath, and then stands up, wincing from the effort.

"It's weird, though," she continues, "I thought monsters would be more," she makes vague gestures with her hands, "monster-y. You look just like a human except for the uhh," more vague gestures.

"Oh, thanks?"

"I don't mean that in a bad way!" She adds, "I just mean you're not scary at all. I thought monsters would be more ferocious."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she glances down. "We don't really talk about monsters on the surface. I guess I assumed they'd be more dangerous."

Shuichi lets out a nervous chuckle. "We don't talk about humans down here, either."

The girl smiles. "Am I what you expected?"

He shakes his head. "Not really, but I didn't know what to expect from a human anyway."

"I know what you mean," she sighs, "Well, I'm glad monsters aren't what I thought they were. And, I'm especially glad the first monster I ever meet was someone kind like you. I'd probably be freaking out a lot more otherwise."

He adjusts his hat as he turns away. "I'm not doing anything special."

"Still, I'm happy you're here with me, um… Mr. Ghost?"

Shuichi looks back her and she fidgets. "That's probably not your name, huh? Sorry, I guess I should have asked a while ago."

"Ah, no, it's okay. I'm Shuichi Saihara," he introduces, "Is it okay if I ask for your name?"

"Of course it's fine, I'm Kaede. Kaede Akamatsu."

* * *

Kaede knew the underground would be different from the surface, but she didn't feel under the ground at all. The Ruins were a series of long corridors, surrounded by purple walls. Every once in awhile, the corridor opens up box-shaped rooms, each containing some sort of landmark: like ponds or lone trees. Beyond those rooms, are just more hallways. It felt like a funhouse maze that they have at carnivals, except with only one way to go. Shuichi had reassured her that the Ruins weren't artificial and everything she saw (expect for the buttons and switches on the walls and ground) happened naturally. The realm of monsters just worked like that, she supposes.

The other thing that struck her as strange is the frogs hopping around the place. She doesn't know why, but Kaede hadn't thought that there'd be animals alongside the monsters.

"Yeah, we have animals" Shuichi says when she asks. "The Ruins has all sorts of species of frogs, too. We have the green ones and the purple ones with wings and the red ones that generate heat. Just like you have on the surface."

Kaede's is too disturbed to respond.

They walk a little further. Shuichi sneakily tries switching from walking to flying, but it's not all that subtle and it was jarring having him float alongside her. His blue "aura" shined brighter when he flew, too. The glow would react to his movement, rolling like flickering flames around his body. Which, only made things feel weirder but, it was something Shuichi was clearly more comfortable with. On two feet, he was stiff and lagged behind her. In the air, he was more mobile, sailing through the air like a breeze.

"It's really cool that you can fly like that," she comments.

"Oh, no, it's not as cool as you think," he mumbles, floating over another stream while she walks across a bridge. "I can't go much higher than this. It's more of a hover than anything."

"You don't have to be humble about it," she says. "It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen."

"No, really, it's not that impressive. I think you're only saying that because you never seen anyone fly," he turns to her. "I'm guessing from your reaction that humans can't fly, can they?"

"Pfft, I wish," Kaede laughs. "Can all monsters fly?"

"No," he replies. "Ghosts can and I think some dragons can, too."

Kaede stops dead in her tracks. "D-dragons!?"

He stops as well. "Yeah, ones with wings can."

She frowns and starts moving again. "Oh." She says, silently praying that they never run into a winged dragon. Or any dragon for that matter. "So, do all monsters have different powers?"

He nods and flicks some lever that opens up a path. "All species have their own unique abilities."

She brightens up. "Is there a monster that can restore my memories?"

Shuichi thinks for a moment before saying, "Actually, I think the king of monsters might."

She perks up, excitement surges through her. She smiles at Shuichi. "Really?"

"Ah, but, I don't know for sure," he quickly adds. "And, it's not like you could ever go see him. So, so, I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Sorry."

Kaede tries not to let her disappointment show as Shuichi tugs frantically at his hat. She decides against pushing the topic further. At least, for now.

They walk in silence for a little bit before they come across a wide, open area. The lavender path they had been walking on suddenly stops in front of a building. It's short, but stretches wide across the terrain. The white walls, window planes with cute flora-patterned drapes, and the mailbox standing right outside it makes it feel like it could be a normal home, but it stands out in the outlandish, purple environment.

"We're here," Shuichi cheers, "this is where I live." He walks through the front door and lands back down on his feet.

Kaede follows behind, entering a very spacious living room. A humongous couch is in the middle of it, right in front of a TV. Kaede questions how such a thing works underground before focusing her gaze on two shelves flanking the walls, each packed to the brim with neatly lined books.

"Sorry for the mess," Shuichi apologizes for the very orderly and organized room.

"Don't apologize, I'm the one intruding after all," she says before allowing herself to collapse face first onto the sofa.

Shuichi shuffles around her and picking up a few stray books on the coffee table and placing them on a shelf. "Are you going to sleep there?" He asks.

Kaede rolls over. "No, I just needed to relax for a second." Then adds, "I've had a long day."

"Ah, okay," he says and continues to organize the books.

She runs her hand through her hair and lets out a sigh. Kaede always had a knack for getting herself into strange situations, but this was definitely the worst it had ever been. Fear starts bubbling in her belly. She had no idea how much longer she'd be stuck down here. Or how many more monsters she would run into. And what about her family? Had her they noticed she was gone? She can't even remember when she left the house, her exhausted brain won't provide any answers.

"Hey, Shuichi?" she calls. "There's...a way to get back to the surface, right?"

He tenses before saying, "Yeah, there's a place near the castle where the barrier is crossable."

Kaede relaxes but her heavy eyelids ache. "Hey, Is there a bed somewhere I could sleep on?"

Shuichi nods. "Bedrooms are over here" He glides through the air, leading her away from the living room and into a hallway, doors lined up on both walls.

"That's my room" he points to a baby blue door. "You can choose one of the other ones to sleep in."

Kaede looks at the rows of doors, each on painted with their different colors. "Does someone else live here?"

"No" he says hurriedly. "Just me."

She hums and moves across the hallway, to a door with a dark-purplish finish. She lets her hand rest on the doorknob. "Hey, Shuichi?" He perks up, "Thanks again for this."

"Of course" he replies, "You really don't have to thank me, it was no trouble at all."

"Still, if it wasn't for your kindness, well, just think how scared I'd be right now." He doesn't say anything to that, so she continues. "Really, thanks, and good night, Shuichi."

"Uh" it's hard to see his expression under the rim of his hat, but she can see his knitted brow. "Okay, I'll see you later." He turns the handle (Kaede half-expected him the just phase through the door) and disappears into his room.

The bedroom she chosen is fully furnished yet, very plain. There's a bed tucked into a corner with nothing but solid white sheets and pillows. The nightstand beside it has nothing on it except for a collection of dust. After checking, she also finds that all the dressers and the closet are completely empty as well. It's not until she throws back the covers does she see the only item in the entire room. Lying on the mattress is a photo of a little girl and an older man standing in the garden she had fallen into. They're both smiling and holding hands, and Kaede doesn't miss the way their bodies give off colorful glows. Especially the little girl, whose own glow matches the color of the bedroom door.

She places the picture on the nightstand and falls asleep.

Kaede instinctively looks out the window when she wakes up, expecting to see the Ruins bathing in early morning sunlight. But, when she does, she realizes why Shuichi had acted so weird when she told him goodnight. The landscape wears the same shade of purple as it did before she fell asleep. It's disorienting. She has to wonder how monsters keep track of time without the sun.

Kaede hobbles out of bed, her body feels less sore than it did yesterday. She stretches out and walks a little around the room. No shooting pain, that's a big improvement she thinks. She had expected the damage to be greater, a few broken bones at least. The memories of her fall aren't that clear, but she knows she must have fallen a long ways. She guesses it didn't matter, since she seems to be fine now.

Shuichi is waiting for her in the living room, sprawled out on the floor and reading a book. When he notices her walking in, he smiles. "Do you feel any better?"

"Yeah, a lot better actually. Just a bit hungry, though."

His eyes widen. "Humans eat, too!?" he exclaims, then quickly lifts the book up to cover his face. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"It's okay. And, yes, we eat. It's one of my favorite 'human' activities" she jokes.

Shuichi chuckles in an awkward and forced way. "Okay, I'll whip up something for the two of us" he says and Kaede has to stop herself from expressing her shock about finding out that ghosts eat. "Do humans- I mean, do you like butterscotch pie?"

She thinks it's an odd breakfast choice but nods anyway. They walk over to a joint kitchen and dining room. The latter holds a large, round table, complete with a set of wooden chairs circling it. "Just take a seat and I'll get the food ready." Shuichi instructs and she doesn't reject the offer to do nothing and get free food in return. She chooses a seat directly across from the kitchen.

A pleasant silence hangs in the air. It's peaceful, watching Shuichi cook while she relaxes at the dining table. It's almost reminiscent of a normal morning in her own home, with her own family. All she needs is a piano to play and it really would be like any other morning of her life. But then, the happiness she feels starts to drain away as the empty chairs surrounding her give her an odd sense of isolation, even though Shuichi is only a few feet away.

"This place sure is big for just you" she comments, drumming her fingers on the table.

He doesn't look up from the stove. "Well, this house wasn't built for just me."

"Did someone else used to live here?" she asks.

"Yeah, uh" He bows his head a little. "A bunch of ghosts used to live here, actually."

"Oh, and they moved away?"

"Yeah, the Ruins aren't as populated nowadays" Shuichi explains. "A lot of monsters moved away to be somewhere with more monsters."

"I see, and you got this whole house to yourself, now. That must be nice."

Shuichi doesn't respond. When he's done cooking, he places a slice of pie in front of her and sits in a chair directly to her left. Kaede tries to be polite at first but, manners were no match against her ravinish hunger. She starts shoveling fistfuls of food into her mouth and, luckily, Shuichi is smart enough not to comment on it.

"I really appreciate all the help, Shuichi" she says once she downs her last gulp.

"It really was no trouble" he replies sheepishly.

"No, you did a lot for me when you didn't need to" she places a hand on his shoulder. "Really, thank you. I've completely recovered thanks to you. So, after this I'll finally get out of your hair and get going."

His head snaps around to look at her. "What? Where are you going?"

"The castle, obviously"

"You're leaving so soon?"

"Of course, the sooner I get to the surface the better."

"B-but you don't understand. The castle is on the other side of the underground. The journey there will be long. Very, very long."

Kaede feels her heart stop. "You're kidding" but Shuichi's sharp gaze tell her he's serious, "Then, that's only more reason to leave as soon as I can!"

"But, you need to recover more. The journey is going to difficult. Not to mention the monsters you run into...won't all be as friendly."

"Well, I can't stay here with you forever."

Shuichi flinches. "Right, of course, that's not what I'm saying. I just think you should be a little more prepared before you go. You at least need to defend yourself if you're going to travel the underground. Here-"

He staggers back to the kitchen and grabs something out of the cupboards. He returns, brandishing a knife with a shaky hand.

"What?" she gasps.

"To defend yourself."

He reaches out for her to take it but, she doesn't move. The sharp metal reflects back an image of her horrified expression. "Shuichi I can't-"

"I'm not saying you should attack everyone you run into, obviously, but…just something you should have. Just in case."

She looks back down at the weapon. Obviously, she wasn't okay with what Shuichi was insinuating she do with it, but he had a point. In the world of monsters, she was powerless. If ghosts could fly, who knows what other abilities were out there. Plus, she couldn't use Shuichi as a gauge to predict the level of hostility of any other monsters. She didn't know if there were monsters that would want to do her harm.

"Just in case" she echoes and picks up the knife.

He nods. "You should probably get some fighting practice in too before you go."

"I can't stall here that much, Shuichi"

"I know you want to leave as soon as possible, but hear me out. It's going to take a while for you to get back on the surface anyway. But, scrabbling around defenseless is only going to make the journey longer, if not impossible. If you stay and prepare yourself, than you actually save time in the long run" Shuichi rambles.

Kaede sighs. "I guess it would be nice to be confident that I can protect myself, but how am I even supposed to even practice that?"

"Don't worry, I know what we can do."

* * *

The lavender gravel crackles under her feet as she shuffles in place. Across the way, Shuichi is making sure the training dummy is tied securely to a wooden post. Well, a training dummy is what he called it, but to Kaede, it looks more like a doll with it's button eyes and yellow, yarn hair. It even wore clothes and someone had drawn eyebrows and a frown on its face, making it look angry. Probably because that was the only way to distinguish it from a child's plaything. That, and the fact that it was the size of her.

"So, you want me to fight the dummy?" she asks, flipping the knife's handle over.

Shuichi nods. "Yeah. I think it be a good way to practice fighting real monsters."

She looked into the dummy's button eyes. "So I just...stab it?"

"Yes, but not yet. I got to make sure everything is ready" He fastens the last of the knots, before stepping back to check everything over. A smile forms on his lips and he curls his arms around the dummy's torso, embracing it in a hug.

Shuichi quickly lets go. "Oh, sorry, f-force of habit" his cheeks grow a rosy color. "I do that sometimes be-because it seems to calm him down" he nods towards the dummy and backs away further. "A-anyway, you can attack it now. I'll be here in case things go sour."

She can't help but to stare at Shuichi - who is trying to make himself disappear under his hat - before turning back to the dummy, brushing it off as some sort of monster thing she didn't understand. She feels so dumb, pointing a knife at its slumped-over form. She didn't know how attacking it was going to help her defense skills. But, if this was a real fight, she won't be able to hesitant and, if anything, she wants this practice to count for something.

So, pretending it's a real enemy, Kaede charges at the dummy and it, in return, springs to life.

"Huh!?" Kaede stop, the knife jumps out of her grasp. The dummy struggles frantically against its restraints. It rolls, turns, and tries banging on the post. Then it's lifeless, button eyes move and look directly at her.

It doesn't make a sound, nor does its markered-in expression change, but Kaede can tell it is not pleased with her. A ball of white light appears at its chest, it grows bigger and bigger, until a small piece of that light breaks off- taking the shape of a diamond- and is flung towards her. It just barely misses. Kaede gasps.

"Kae-" Shuichi's call was cut off by the dummy hurling another attack at her. It doesn't miss this time, it hits her shoulder. She looks just in time to see the diamond projectile sear straight through her body.

Kaede screams, clutching her shoulder and falling to her knees. She waits for the pain, for the blood to come spilling out. But, nothing happens. She lifts her hand to find nothing. No cuts, no scratches, nor any wounds. She gingerly places two fingers where she was hit, pushing gently into her clothes. Everything felt normal.

"Don't worry, he's not trying to hurt you" Shuichi calls. "He's only after your soul. That's the only thing you have to make sure he doesn't hit."

"My...soul?" she echoes. It's then that she notices a red glow coming from below. Thinking it's blood, Kaede looks down and there, drifting in the middle of her chest, is a red heart that hovers in the air, less than a fingernail length away from her body.

Panic, disbelief, fear-those are things she should be feeling right now. But, some instinctually part of her let's her embrace the magical flying heart, letting her know that it belongs to her. The heart, her soul, ignites something within her. Something stronger and more confident than herself. The tension in her heart soothes.

The dummy attacks again and Kaede side-steps out of the way. "Nice dodge!" Shuichi cheers.

A powerful feeling rushes through her and she can tell it's coming from her soul. Suddenly, nothing else matters. Not the battle training, nor getting out of the underground, not even her own safety. All that matters is her own growing determination to protect her soul.

"This is why the training dummy is so good for practice" Shuichi calls again. "All tied up like that, it's attacks are poorly aimed and he can't fire them all that fast. You got the advantage Kaede, you can do this!"

Just as he says that, one of the ropes snap.


	2. Heartache

The rope holding back one of the the dummy's arms snapped in half.

Its button eyes peered over at the rope's frayed remains dangling in the air. It paused, seeming just as surprised as Kaede and Shuichi were, then wiggled its newly freed arm. Shuichi reacted fast, gliding across the area and snatching the end of the rope. He tried to retie it but the dummy yanked against him, making it hard for him to get a grip on the post.

It attacked again, this time hailing two diamond shapes bullets instead of one. She leapt away. "Shuichi, mind telling me what this thing is and why it wants my soul so badly?" Kaede shouted.

He still had a tight grip on the strand of rope. "I told you, he's a training dummy, and it's in his nature to attack your soul. You have a human soul, afterall."

Kaede had no idea what that meant. She shut her eyes as bullet whizzed past her face. "So, what, is it a monster?"

"Um, not technically," he explained. "Dummies are made by puppetmasters, they don't have brains nor souls. They are only created for protection."

"Well, the puppetmaster isn't here, right? So why's he trying to kill me?"

"I don't know," he replied, his voice tight. "His puppetmaster left him behind in the Ruins a long time ago and he's been acting weird ever since. Or...actually, maybe this is normal and he was created to be really aggressive. I didn't know him until I found him already abandoned."

Kaede was about to tell him that now wasn't the time to figure the dummy's motives when a bullet hit her soul. Pain scorched in her chest. Real damage had been done that time, she could feel it. Even though the red heart looked the same as it did at the start of the battle.

"You should run" Shuichi warned. "I can take care of him, leave before you get hurt."

"No" she glared at the dummy. "If I can't handle this then there's no way I'm going to make it through the underground."

Shuichi opened his mouth to argue but stopped when the dummy's free hand whacked his side. Kaede looked around, trying to figure out what to do. The knife lied on the ground, nearby the post. She couldn't risk bending down to pick it up, she'd be attacked while she wasn't looking. Not to mention the fact that a knife might not even do anything to it. It didn't have a soul so could it even feel pain or die? But then what else would work against the dummy?

Then, something Shuichi said earlier flashed in her mind. She got an idea. A very risky idea. Her eyes drifted towards the ghost. He said that he'd be there if things got bad. He had supernatural powers and vastly more knowledge about monsters. She trusted him to save her if her plan didn't work out.

Kaede waited for the dummy to shoot again, then she pounded off the floor, charging straight at it. Shuichi's eyes widened as he yelled at her to stop. She crashed right into the dummy and clung onto its body, giving it something akin to a hug.

The dummy struggled for a second, stopped, and then drooped limply in her arms. Kaede continued squeezing tightly, not letting go until Shuichi's placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't believe that worked" he breathed. Kaede took a step back, seeing that the dummy returned to being a lifeless doll, tangled in rope and hanging from the post. Her soul disappeared into thin air.

"That was amazing, Kaede! You did it!" He pumped a fist into the air and continued to to celebrate.

His cheeriness was far too infectious to not join in. She laughed and gave her own hooping and hollering. But the victory felt hollow. Her idea had only stemmed from Shuichi's own knowledge of the dummy.

Was it even possible for her to survive in the underground without him?

"Hey, Kaede, maybe we should take a break now" Shuichi said.

It had been a couple of days after the dummy incident and the two of them were at a pond near the garden. Kaede was stood in front of the water, waiting for the blue frogs to let out their next attacks. Some other colored frogs, along with Shuichi, watched from a distance.

They had been using the creatures for dodging practice, since Kaede refused to use the dummy again. The frogs were a good substitution. The blue ones were especially aggressive, spitting up flames whenever she got into the vicinity of one.

She hadn't practiced attacking, yet.

"Let's stop for now" he added.

She tsked. He was always bugging her about breaks. It was too early for her to rest, she only liked to stop when sweat beats down her back and her feet feel like they're walking on thorns. Only then does she feel like she has practiced enough.

"No, not now," Kaede said in-between heavy breaths. "I've barely gotten started. If you're bored you can join in."

"Oh no, I'm not that much of a fighter," he hovered a little closer. "And, I'm not suggesting a break because I'm bored, I'm just concerned about your wellbeing. You don't have to push yourself, you know."

She wanted to snap back and tell him she does have to push herself. Remind him for the millionth time that she wanted to go back to the surface as soon as possible. But she also knew Shuichi was only trying to help.

"Just a little bit longer" she begged.

He begrudgingly agreed and left to go tend to the garden. It was the first time she had been in a fight without him, he usually drifted nearby so he could intervene if she accidentally got hurt. His absence was like taking away the safety net. Which was for the better.

It wasn't nerve wracking having him gone. Nothing ever was when her soul was visible. It always brought an astounding feeling of bravery and reassurance. She had tried several times to get it to appear on command, but she couldn't do it. Her soul only appeared when she was being attacked.

Kaede spent another thirty minutes dodging the frogs' flames when Shuichi returned. Her opponents finally grew tired of attacking at a thrifty target and swam away. She took that as a indicator to finish her training.

"Alright, let's go back," she announced. Shuichi, clearly happy, lead her through the Ruins, back to his home.

"You're getting so good Kaede," he praised. "They don't even come close to hitting you anymore."

"Thanks," she said, then added, "Hey Shuichi, do you know anything about souls?"

He placed a hand over his mouth. "You mean humans souls, right? I don't know much about them besides the obvious stuff."

Kaede frowned. "Are you sure? Didn't you say something about how the dummy wanted my soul or something like that."

"Well, yes, the dummy might not have a soul of his own but, he was made by a puppetmaster. He shares his creator's emotions, desires, stuff like that."

Kaede glanced at him. "Whoa, wait, are you saying the puppetmaster wants my soul?"

Shuichi scratched the back of his neck. "Kaede...you have a human soul, you know that right?"

"Obviously, but what does that mean?"

"You don't know?" he hesitated, looking away. "Monsters, all monsters, can benefit from a human soul. It would make anyone incredibly powerful. There's even rumors that, with a human soul, a monster can cross the barrier. Everyone wants a human soul."

Kaede felt sick.

"B-but I don't want one." Shuichi clarified. "I don't want to leave the barrier and I have no need for power, so….."

"It's okay" she said sharply. "You don't have to defend yourself, I know you'd never hurt me. I trust you."

Shuichi lips formed a tight line. "That's good."

Once they reached Shuichi's home, Kaede slumped down on the couch, letting her throbbing legs rest.

Shuchi glided over to the TV set. "Hey, do you want to watch something?" She nodded, they usually ended training with some sort of movie.

The ghost skimmed through the DVD sets on the shelf. He pulled one out and popped it into the player. She still didn't understand how the TV even worked underground. She had asked Shuichi at one point, who had given her a long speech about the inner workings of it all using unrecognizable terminology, but essentially it boiled down to magic.

Magic. That was the most important thing in the underground, it was how everything worked. It was how Shuichi managed to flick on the TV, or how they could get running water in the sink and tub, or how he could get the stove to work. With magic Shuichi could live all alone.

She got confirmation from himself that, aside from the frogs and dummy, he was the only monster in the whole Ruins. He was apparently named the Protector of the Ruins. He was so proud when he told her that, so she applauded him even though she had no idea what it meant.

"This is one of my favorite shows," he said and hit the play button. Cheery music started playing and an animated bunny appeared on screen and started talking. "It's called Monkey Detective. It sounds kind of childish but the show actually has some really in-depth mysteries."

"Is it made for kids?" She asked.

Shuichi shifted his gaze away. "Well, yes, but it's still very good and it can get mature in it's themes and the show definitely challenges you to think outside the box when it comes to the mysteries."

Kaede laughed. "It's okay, you don't have to sell me on it, Shuichi, I still want to watch. For kids or not." Immediately she was drawn to the bubbly animation. All the characters looked so soft and friendly. "It's just, it's weird to me that you have children's cartoons down here."

"Why?"

It was a good question. The more she learned about the underground, the more she realized that she had known nothing about it previously. Her whole life she had just disgraded it as a hole full of monsters, a world completely separate from her own. "I don't know" Kaede admitted.

The cartoon bunny started talking again and Shuichi repeated the words in perfect harmony.

Kaede lifted an eyebrow. "You have it memorized?"

"Yeah, this is one of my favorite episodes. I've seen it so many times."

As the episode continued, Shuichi kept repeating the script, word for word. It was mesmerizing to watch. She didn't even know what was happening, only getting bits and pieces. Something about a missing alligator and that there was a major clue in the library.

Shuichi stopped talking with the characters and laid back on the couch.

"Hey, do you think I could win a fight against a real monster?" she asked him. When it came to frogs and dummies, she felt confident enough to take them on in a fight. Would those skills be enough to defend against a real monster?

"Sure, you can hold up well against the frogs." he said, keeping his eyes on the screen. "All monsters use long range attack, as long as you can dodge you'll be fine."

She humed.

He asked softly, "Are you thinking about leaving?"

The question angered Kaede. Of course she was thinking about leaving, that's all she ever thought about. That's what she had been working towards for days. "Yeah, I'll probably go soon."

He reached for the remote, turning the volume up. "Soon, but not now, right?

"Yeah, not right now."

While Shuichi slept, she explored his house. Even though she had been living him for awhile, she hadn't seen most of the house. Kaede didn't spend much time in the place and Shuichi never strayed far from the living room, so she hadn't seen most of the rooms.

But now, there was something she wanted to investigate. There was something that might have been in Shuichi's home, something that she couldn't find in the rest of the Ruins.

After a bit of searching, Kaede discovered a flight of stairs in a back room. They lead deeper down into the ground. She hopped down them, two steps at a time, and landed at the bottom with a thud. A large corridor stretched out at the bottom; at the other end was a giant door. It was so big that she had to crane her neck just to see the top of it. Kaede doesn't go near it, opting instead to go back up the stairs. She was pretty sure she found what she was looking for.

"What's in the basement?" She asked bluntly when Shuichi woke up. He was in the kitchen, like he was every morning, trying to get the water in a tea kettle boiling.

"The what?" he asked, sounding groggy.

"There's stairs in the room all the way in the back" she pointed in the direction. "I went down them and all that was there was a door. What's behind it?"

Shuichi tipped his head, seeming confused. The kettle started to whistle "That's where the rest the underground is."

"Thought so" she nodded. In her days in the Ruins, she had found no way to go deeper into the underground. Every tunnel lead to a dead end. "That's crazy that's it's right under your house."

"I suppose so."

He poured the tea out into two cups and handed on to her. She graciously took it from his hand and waited until he was sat down to tell him that she was going to leave today.

The rest of breakfast continued in silence.

Shuichi helped her pack. Providing her with a pink backpack to keep: an extra pair of clothes, a jacket, and a couple of water bottles. She put the knife on top of it all (making it easy to grab at a moment's notice) and zipped it up.

"Shuichi, thank you" she said.

"You already thanked me like a dozen times" he scoffed.

"And you've said that like a dozen times. I guess I'm going to have to break us out of this loop" she smiled, trying to lighten up the sober mood, but her next words hit too hard to recover any cheerness in the room. "So, good-bye Shuichi."

"Good-bye Kaede" It's blunt and emotionless. His hat is moved down over his face, making it impossible to see.

The farewell was painful, but she didn't want to dwell on it, she just had to rip off the bandaid.

She left without looking back, hurrying to the stairs she had found last night. Kaede paused at the bottom. The door was only a few steps away, but she couldn't move. The door before her lead the way to the rest of the underground. A land of monsters wanted her soul. She was scared.

But Kaede had a family waiting for her. She couldn't force her soul to come out and comfort her, she had to be brave on her own. She took a step forward.

And that's when Shuichi came rushing down the stairs. About half way down he leapt off the steps, flinging himself into the air. He flew over Kaede's head and placed himself in front of the grand door.

Kaede hesitated, taking a step back. Shuichi held out his arms, blocking the door as much he physically could.

"Wait, Kaede! You can't leave yet!" His call was desperate.

Kaede's heart thumped in her chest. She knew he didn't want her to leave but she never thought Shuichi would forcibly keep her in the Ruins. "Shu-"

"You're not ready" he shook his head. "The monsters out there are way scarier than me. They're brutal and violent and they're going to try to hurt you."

"I know, but that's why I've been training so hard."

"But you haven't trained enough!" He pleaded. Kaede's clenched her fists as he continued, "You still need to be stronger."

"Don't give me that!" Kaede shouted, causing the boy to flinch. "You said so yourself, I can beat a monster in a fight."

"But-"

"Let me go Shuichi!" She yelled, marching towards the door. He tensed and backed away until his back hit the door.

"No!" he called, his voice sharp and sulking in sadness. He lifted his trembling arms, thrusting them towards her. "If you want to leave so badly, then prove to me, prove to me that you can survive on your own!"

Blue light simmered at his palms and accumulated into baseball-sized orbs. They came flying toward, but they miss and hit the stairs behind her, exploding into sparkles before fading into nothing. Her soul appeared and determination started rushing through her veins.

"What are you doing?" she cried, her distressed voice echoing off the walls of the basement.

Power swirled at Shuichi's palms. "This is your first real fight against a monster. Give it everything you got and defeat me."

He hesitated for a moment, and then shot a slow and sloppy attack. Kaede easily side-stepped out if the way. "Is this really necessary?" she asked. Another orb whizzed by, nowhere near her, and slammed into a wall. "Just let me go."

"No" Shuichi spat. "Not until you beat me in a fight."

Anger was swelling through her. "Well, I'm not going to attack you so what do you expect me to do? Wait for you to tire yourself out?"

He didn't answer.

"Ugh," she whined. "Shuichi, are you really doing this for me? Or, are you just doing this because you're just scared of being alone again?"

Shuichi paused. The blue glow around him flared, growing in intensite. The light reached out further and further from his body. He attacked again, hailing tons of orbs from his hands. They covered the whole area, violently bursting like fireworks around her.

A few of them scraped the edges of her soul. It sent a burning sensation all the way to the tips of her fingers.

"What the hell?" she yelped. "I thought you said you weren't much of a fighter."

"Well, I lied!" He yelled, hailing another brutal attack

This fight was nothing like the frogs. It was much, much harder. The time between the set of bullets was short, leaving her no room to catch her breath. She leapt away from an attack and slipped. Quickly, she caught herself with her hands. The collision hurt in a way she wasn't expecting, her body never got hurt in a fight, it was always her soul.

Kaede picked herself up off the floor, turning to the boy floating in the air. He had shown her so much kindness before, helped her when he could have left her in the garden, and now Shuichi was trying to hurt her.

"I don't get it" she said. "If you're lonely why don't you just leave?"

"I can't" Shuichi said. "I'm the Protector of the Ruins, remember?"

She shook her head. "But there's not even anything here to protect!"

"Maybe…" he fired an orb at her shoulder. She crouched to avoid it. "But there used to be a lot of things to protect. Me, the whole ghost family, we used protect everyone who lived here. We solved mysteries, we stopped criminals, we kept everyone safe."

Her hands start stinging badly, she turned her palm over to find them cut up and bleeding. She gave Shuichi a sharp look. The ghost peered over his hat to look at the wound. He frowned, avoiding his gaze.

"Monsters kept leaving," he continued. "Ghosts kept leaving. They kept leaving and telling me to stay and take care of things. They kept leaving until I was the only one left. The only Protector of the Ruins."

He attacked again, but this time the orbs don't make contact. They aim straight at her but veer to the side when they get too close. Kaede stood still, letting them pass her by.

"I don't think they meant for you to stay by yourself" Kaede said. "I'm sure they'd want you to leave, now that everyone is gone."

His shoulders were shaking. "No they don't."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because" his breath hics. Shuichi bit his lips and gripped the rim of his hat, turning away. "If they wanted me out there and not in here... then why did no one ever come back for me?"

Kaede moved forward and Shuichi pushed his attack harder, though it made no difference when they kept veering to the side. She kept moving forward, until she's right in front of him.

Shuichi tried to keep up his attack. Behind her, they keep slamming into the ground. Nowhere near their target. But he won't stop, firing more and more blue orbs. Kaede does the only thing she can think of and, with one swift motion, grabbed his hat and threw it towards the stairs.

His red-stained eyes widen.

"Shuichi, you can't keep me forever" Kaede said.

The fierce light around him softens, until it's nothing but a gleam. He hopped back down on his legs.

"I know," he choked out. "I'm sorry."

"You're not forgiven," she replied harshly. He sniffed and hung his head low. "I can't forgive an apology like that, especially over something like this. You hurt me, Shuichi."

"I know, a-and I don't expect you to forgive me, you really shouldn't" he swallowed hard. "I'm still sorry."

"Well, there is a way to make it up to me" she offered. "If you come with me I'll forgive you."

He shook his head. "I can't."

Kaede crossed her arms. "I don't think you have much of a choice. You owe me big time."

Shuichi blinked in surprise, daring a glance back up at her. His lips curled into a small smile and he kicked the dust at his feet. "Okay."

"Okay, you'll come?"

He nodded.

Kaede knew she shouldn't feel happy, not after what had just occurred, but not having to bear the underground alone put a huge weight off her chest.

"But, I'm not as knowledgeable as you think." He said, "I've lived here my whole life. I don't really know what's beyond these doors."

Kaede shrugged. "You probably know more than me."

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, probably."

"Well, there's no time to waste." She said and nudged Shuichi. He stepped aside to let her reach the door. She placed her beat up hand on the ornate black carvings. Her gaze shifted towards her ghost companion, he was reaching for his hat.

"Leave it, you look better without it" she instructed.

"Ah," he jumped. He glanced back at the door, and then to Kaede. "O-okay."

He flew back over to her and together they opened the large door together. Marking the beginning of their journey into the unknown.


End file.
